Ender Dragon
by NilakantaDragonQueen619
Summary: Ender Dragon lives in Ars Magika, a world where magic is free to all. However, when powerful artifacts known only as 'The Puzzles' are rumored to have reappeared along with the Dark Clans, Ender is thrown into a quest to destroy them once and for all, along with the five men that call themselves the Dragon Lords.
1. Rumors

Chapter 1

 **Hey, how's everybody? I re-wrote this chapter because I found there was too much info jammed into it. It should be better now, so enjoy and don't forget to review!**

 _Purple eyes watched from behind the dense undergrowth of the dark forest watched her prey scramble to get away from an unknown threat it could not see. The child watched silently, cracking a smile at the prey's attempt to run away. She felt it's fear, it's terror, it's desire to survive. She followed it soundlessly, not uttering a word or a single sound except the soft whisper of the magik language. Black hair was rustled in the wind, the trees blocked any powerful winds from harming the child, but allowed a small breeze to carry her hair through the darkening sky._

 _It was twilight, but the child didn't mind. She was used to being avoided and even taught to laugh and taunt her prey if it ever tried to run away or intimidate her. Her family was rejected from society for the sole purpose that they used Dark Magic. After a while, the child's family was also known for murder, even if it was accidental, but the villagers didn't care at this point. It was just another reason to throw the 'Dragon' Family out of the village for good._

 _A few years had passed since then, and the child reflected deeply on the matter, still on the hunt for her terrified prey. She crept through the woods and accidently stepped on a twig, causing all the nearest animals to get agitated. Some ran like cowards. She closed her eyes and listened, waiting. She waited for the sounds of terror, the sounds of fleeing prey, the sound of rushing feet, the sounds of heavy breathing, but nothing came to her ears. This confused the child, as she believed she was relatively deep in the forest, but she was wrong. She could hear the sound of burning wood nearby, as well as the start of a heavy rainfall. She looked around, wanting to find the source of the sound, but when she looked up to the sky she gasped in horror._

 _The sky was on fire, almost literally as the rain reflected the glow of the flames engulfing a wooden house. The beautiful twilight turned to yellow, then orange and finally a deep red. Tears welled up in her violet eyes as she ran towards the burning structure that was her home. Her family was inside, but she couldn't find the courage to say or do anything. The child slumped down on to the wet grass and sat in front of her burning house, wanting to do anything, but was unable to even move as she cried. Her parents had tried to make her tough, to never cry, but this was too much for the child to withstand. Losing a friend was acceptable, but her family... Dark hair stuck to her face from the rain that descended endlessly from the sky. She had gone playing out later than usual when she knew she wasn't supposed to and came back to find her family's house on fire. No one was found, no bodies, no ashes, no bones, nothing. In the morning, nothing was salvageable._

 _The child turned her back on the house, finding no need in crying anymore, and headed towards the closest village she could find. However, it wasn't as welcoming as she'd thought it would've been. Everyone either walked right by her, gave her a glance she knew was hatred, or even beat her up before leaving. In the distance, a lonely tower could be seen, standing alone in the forest. She came across a few animals, a few werewolves attacked her along her way to the lonely tower, but she managed to bypass all her obstacles. When she made it to the tower, she soon forgot about the village. She forgot about everything. All she wanted was to be alone, all she ever wanted was to thrive and surpass everything that lived. She wanted to be the greatest Dark Mage in the land of Ars Magika, just like her mother was. The child strode near the tower, walking what seemed like miles over what felt like hours. She didn't know what to think after she saw the fire. She would've stopped it, but she didn't know how. Even the rain had only seemed to intensify the fire instead of putting it out. All she ever wanted was to do something right, but she couldn't. She was born in a family of Darkness, and there for looked down upon by the other kids. Even the adults. She wanted to be useful, but her brothers reminded her that she was useless. When she saw the fire, she felt useless, she wanted to hide from it. She didn't know how to react, she didn't know what to do. Only now did she know her brothers were right._

 _When the child finally reached the tower, she had found more than just an empty building. She had found more than just solitude. She had found Spell Tomes, robes, and even a new life for herself. Now, she could finally do someone useful. She could do something. She had been told her whole life she was meant for darkness, and maybe now was the time to embrace it._

* * *

A few years later...

A lone figure tread through the gravel roads that would lead her to her house, the tall tower in the distance could be seen in the darkening sky. Her robes swished around her ankles and just touched the gravel road. She was glad not to have to worry about chasing people out of the vast forest she had come to own, as the tower's powerful dark aura kept them away and the rumors about it kept them at bay. Not that it mattered much to her, they were already scared of her, with or without the rumors. Her name was enough to send a town into panic, her figure enough to send a town into emergency lock down, and her voice enough to actually clear a town. She looked at the sky and noticing the darkness descending rather quickly, picked up her pace.

She went down the road at a slow jog, wanting more than ever to get her hands on the legendary artifacts that were rumored to have reappeared once again. The excitement got the best of her and she started to run, even if she didn't need or want to. When word moved around that a bunch of Dark Mages had found a legendary artifact, she decided to gather more information for herself to use and the closest place to find that information so happened to be in town. She found it insulting that people claimed them as a myth, a children's tale to scare them into cowering from the arcane arts, but she knew better. She knew that they were real. She had proof, and she wanted to keep it a secret. Right now, she was like every other Dark Mage, hungry for the power and knowledge that these artifacts were rumored to hold. Her information on them was low and limited, and she was on the hunt for anything that could direct her to one of the legendary artifacts.

As she passed by a few houses, she caught a few exchanged words from the local villagers, speaking about something that peeked her interest in the slightest, she decided to slow her pace to listen.

"Have you heard? The Darkness in Ars Magika is returning to us. The Mages have started to turn on each other for their needless search of power and fame, calling themselves the Dark Clans, if I'm not mistaken. It's a pointless scandal, really." One of the villagers said, his voice was low but he couldn't hide his distaste for the Dark Mages from her. Her teeth showed as she smiled broadly, stopping her walk to lean on a nearby house to stay out of their sight and listen in. ' _So, it's already started? The Dark Mages have finally decided to gather again?_ '

"Yeah, I also heard that they're looking for artifacts they call Puzzles. What a useless bunch, scrambling over each other for a little puzzle. They fight for power, but why the hell would they want a puzzle for? To calm themselves? What a bunch of netherbrains. But rumor around town says they're looking for someone with the name of ' _Dragon_ '-" The villagers looked around, seeing nothing yet obviously feeling watched. A pair of purple eyes followed their every move and ears took in every word. After hearing the name, she smashed her fist against the wall she leaned on, making it crumble to dust as she furiously walked away.

She stalked pas a few houses, making the villagers inside cower in fear. She weaved through buildings, and eventually made it to her desired location. The library. She turned the handle and walked inside, closing the door gently behind her. The librarian was shaking but managed to compose himself enough to speak.

"He-hello...How can...How can I help..you?" He stuttered so terribly she turned to look at him, which only made him shake even more. She shook her shoulders before replying.

"I'm looking for a book. One that contains information, precise information, about the legendary artifacts. Surely you've heard of them, right?" She cooed, trying her best to make the librarian comfortable and feel less...threatened. However, her efforts only seemed to make him feel even more threatened. He nodded and turned towards his many book shelves behind him, looking through a few books before selecting one and handing it to her, his hands shaking madly. She smiled warmly and gently took the book from his shaking hands, first looking at the title.

" _Artifacts Found Throughout Time._ " She took a moment to look at the design. It was covered with a berry blue coloured wool, with bronze boarders and letters. It was a decent size for a book that might contain information about what she was looking for, being about twice as big as the average book and absolutely full of pages, this was the type of book she was looking for. Overall, she already liked it and wanted to keep it, but she didn't want a fraud for a book. She gently opened the cover, smelling the scent of old pages and read through the table of contents. Satisfied, she flipped through a few pages and read the content. She nodded and closed the book, looking at the librarian while twirling an emerald between her fingers.

"Ho...How did...you...?" The librarian was shocked, pointing at her, then the emerald in her hands. She chuckled, making another appear in her hand, then another. The librarian's jaw would've touched the floor if it wasn't tied to his head. She twirled them, tossed them around, and even momentarily made them disappear.

"What do you say? Can I have this book?" She smiled, knowing he had taken the bait. She only had to wait for him to cave in. His green eyes were sparkling, and he was starting to drool over the counter, slowly tipping towards her. Then he composed himself.

"10 emeralds for the book." He said, that sparkle still in his eyes. The girl got her own sparkle in her eyes and she smiled devilishly, apparently he had gotten over his fear of her. She was going to change that.

"4."

"8."

"5."

"Deal." He said. The fear was completely gone from his voice. ' _Greedy little bastard._ ' She made the desired jewels appear in her hand and he jumped up over the counter and grabbed them greedily, not bothering to look at them as he stored them away in his pocket. The girl laughed and walked out of the library, clutching her precious book to her chest. Suddenly, a loud scream came from the library and she laughed out loud, a few villagers moving as far back as they could from her. A name rang through the night, as well as a few other things, being yelled from somewhere behind her.

"It's her! It's her! IT'S ENDER DRAGON!"

"Children! Get away from her!"

"Someone save us!"

What was her reaction? What did she do? Well, Ender only stalked back down the path she came from, smiling when she heard the horrified screams that rang like music through the now dark land of Ars Magika. Her black and white robes dragged slightly across the gravel road, then through the forest ground as she exited the village and entered her domain, her home. She looked up, noticing the full moon. This only made her snicker, as the were-wolves were always on the hunt for prey, which sadly included humans. Their howling was sign that they were present in the forest she'd come to claim as her own.

She laughed once again, heading towards the tower that loomed in the distance, the tower that seemed to blend into the darkness and give off a power of its own.

 **Wow. It was nice to change some things. It makes it sound more... I don't know, maybe sinister? Interesting? You decide. Have fun, and I'll see you later!**

 **-NilakantaDragonQueen619**


	2. True Terror

Chapter 2

 **Hey, everyone. I finally managed to post this after some complications and minor writers block, but hey, it was worth it. Anyhoot, I hope you do enjoy.**

Heading down the path some mage created so long ago, feeling nothing but a light cool breeze tickle her cheek, she looked at the beautiful book carefully tucked under her arm. The berry blue binding and bronze lining almost made it look unreal, mythical even, especially with the full moon shining down on her through the canopy. This book... She has been searching for something like this for a long time now. At first she didn't care. Mages were Mages, all they ever wanted was fame and power. So did she, but she didn't crave it to a point that she needed to make it known to the world. Ender was enjoying her late night stroll and even decided to sing a tune she knew as a child, pulling her hood low over her head as the wind started to pick up. One her mother had taught her.

 _'Ain't gonna take me down, no way._

 _Don't judge a thing 'till you know what's inside it,_

 _Don't push me I'll fight it._

 _Never gonna give in, never gonna give in I know_

 _If you never catch a wave, then you're never gonna ride it,_

 _You can't come uninvited,_

 _Never gonna give in, never gonna give in I know_

 _You can't take me, I'm free._ '

She kept walking , humming the rest of the song, and eventually, the cool air started becoming warmer, which disturbed her. Enders singing eventually came to a stop as she realized that the trees were starting to be barren of leaves, the trunks looked more black than brown and the smell of smoke lingered in the air. She moved forward and cringed, she felt like a ghost as she could not hear her own footsteps, which were muffled by the thick layer of soot and ash that covered the ground.

The evidence suggested a fire, but she didn't hear any sounds of screaming or cries of panic from the village. This wasn't a natural fire, someone had to have done this. As Ender got closer to the trees, she noticed that only the bark closest to the ground was charred to the point that heat radiated off it. She looked around, finding the same thing on the other trees, and came to a conclusion. Someone was here, and recently. Her scowl deepened when she thought of someone in _her_ forest.

Suddenly she stopped, still scowling in discomfort. Something blocked her path. The hunched form of a human just stood there, blocking her path. A twig snapped behind her, and she instinctively thought of her sword. Red particles formed around her hand and she solidified the energy to form her weapon, grabbing the hilt before it tumbled to the ground. The ruby blade shone with a light purple aura, giving off a small glow around her, illuminating the dead forest floor. More twigs snapped, this time they all came from different directions, soon surrounding her. She hefted her sword and kept a tight grip on the book, eyeing anything that sounded too close to her. The twigs suddenly stopped snapping, but that didn't make her feel any more comfortable than before.

"Hello?" She called out, holding her sword in front of her. "Did you do this?" She pointed to the destroyed forest around her, gesturing with her sword.

"Are you a mage?" A deep voice rang out. The form in front of her raised its head, dark glowing red eyes stared at her from the deep depths of its hood. The red eyes almost seemed to glare at her, but she glared right back.

"You didn't answer my question." Ender snarled, already determining that this man was going to be trouble. He obviously wasn't afraid of her, and she was going to change that. She stepped forward, twisting her sword around in her hand while giving off her courtesy smile, hoping this show of talent would give him a little doubt. And yet, he still did nothing, even after she placed the blade relatively close to his face. Her smile faded and her mind turned to business. He saw the change in her attitude and answered.

"Yes. We very much did so." His voice, first being deep and almost impossible to decipher, was now clear as can be. His smile shone through the darkness of his hood and he reached up with one hand to pull it back, revealing a red eyed man with short black hair. After hearing him say 'we', Ender was furious. There was more than one responsible for destroying her forest.

"How wonderful." She snorted. She now looked around, wondering where the rest were. "Do you know who I am?" She said slowly, emphasizing the last part of the sentence as she lifted her sword, whirling around to the sound of a snapping twig. The man laughed and took a few steps forward, making her back up as he unsheathed his own sword. Unwillingly, Ender made the book crumble into little particles, storing it in her inventory and turned to face the threat. Now that he stepped out of the darkest part of the forest, she could see his clothing. Red leather material fused with iron to better protect the wearer, but also a disadvantage, as it would weight more than leather and iron.

"I've seen worms that are scarier than you." He huffed, a smile creeping up on his face. "Now answer my question: Are you a mage?" His sword was pointed straight towards her, but his grip on it was loose and he appeared to be relaxed.

Ender had to refrain from attacking him, as she did not know any of his tricks, but he didn't know any of hers either. He had just insulted her, which meant he probably didn't know her, which meant... She would have to show him, by giving him a hard lesson. She smile devilishly, imagining all the things she could do to make him fear her, which made her chuckle. She moved her hand and adjusted her hood, pulling it slightly lower on her head and stepped forward, glaring at him through the dark depths. He visibly shivered and she laughed out loud, which made him flinch.

"You're pretty stupid if you haven't figured that out yet." She said, her voice filled with enough poison to kill a werewolf. "I'll show you just _who I am_." With the last few words, she gathered her magik energy towards her feet and sprang forward with her sword in hand and raised her fist, her increased speed gave her punch more velocity. The man didn't have time to react as her fist made contact with his face, sending him sprawling backwards.

He grunted as he impacted with a tree, which made Ender chuckle. She came up to him and kneeled down, lowering her head to his ears while holding her sword to his throat, which made him stop moving.

"Answer these simple questions for me, would you?" She hissed. He hastily nodded, cutting himself in the process, which made her chuckle darkly. His hand tightened around his sword but she stomped her foot down onto it, which almost made him scream. "Do you know who's forest this is?" He shook his head. He tried to free his arm, but she hissed " _!ecI_ " darkly and a layer of cold blue ice covered his hand and wrist, making it very hard for him to move his hand.

"Do you know what I can do?" She applied a little pressure to his throat, also increasing the amount of ice on his hand. He shook his head again. She laughed out loud, making him cringe as she was close to his ear. Ender mentally prepared herself for the next question, wanting to make the man scared for his pathetic life, to remember her for all eternity. Even up to the day he finally dies.

" _Do you know who I am?_ " She tightened her grip on her sword, making it disappear into particles as she stood up, reaching up and pulling the hood off her face, smiling widely. Her black hair flew free with the sudden wind that raced between the trees. Her violet eyes seemed to grow with an intensity that obviously scared the man senseless. She used the opportunity to release some of her energy, solidifying it behind her to form wings, sparking a flame to life. They made her look bigger and more intimidating, clearly frightening the man.

"I am the bane of all existence." She lit her hands with fire and made herself a little pet. Made of fire, it flew around her, screeching at the man every time it came close to him. She could almost feel his fear rising and laughed. The fire melted the ice on his hand and he took the opportunity to swing his sword in an attempt to be rid of the Fire Bird.

"The most powerful of them all." Ender laughed at his feeble attempt. The Fire Bird simply broke apart and another bird of fire sparked to life, flying in the opposite direction of the first. They both began screeching every time they flew near the man, making him tremble and flinch ever time they came close to him. He was getting terrified, and she was loving it. He kept trying to get rid of the Fire Birds, but it only made more appear.

"You cannot best me, fool, for I..." She lifted her hand, making the man stared at her, wondering what she was going to do next. She waited, making the suspense increase, and then spread her fingers. Before she could do anything, the man laughed.

"Did you forget? I wasn't the only one to burn your forest." He smiled. "I have friends all over this place, looking for a mage, trying to draw her out."

Now it was Ender's turn to laugh. She extended her hand and the biggest of the Fire Bird, the first she had created, came forward. It leaned it head affectingly onto her hand and she stroked its fiery feathers. The man gasped, seeming surprised that the fire wasn't burning her. It only made her laugh again. He was so stupid.

"Is that so?" She then turned to her majestic bird of fire. "Seek them out, my Beauty." She whispered. "Chase them away from my forest." The bird raised its head from her hand and opened its beak. A musical eagle type of cry echoed through the forest, getting the other birds attention. They gathered together and all flew into different directions, Lighting up the surrounding forest as they flew by. Their cries were soon followed by the terrified cries of the men, who had decided to turn tail and run form the new threat. The man in front of her had fear written on his face, which made her feel good about her success. She then resumed her introduction to herself, the courtesy that usually scared her victims half to death.

"...I am the feared Dark Mage..." She then glared at the man, a smile still plastered onto her face as she raised her hand again, summoning her birds to her side knowing they had dealt with the threat. Her majestic Fire Birds appeared, first as a simple flame, then bursting to life with their beautiful cry. They stared surrounding the man again, circling high and low.

"...known throughout this entire land..." She then pulled all her birds into one giant mass, their cries mingling together to form an exceptional roar that none can describe. A shape slowly started to form itself, stretching out into different directions to form a large behind made purely of fire. The fire of her make-shift wings were drawn into the new creation, which roared like a wild fire. The man was terrified; shaking in place, paralyzed by fear and breaking out into a cold sweat, he almost looked like he was going to cry, this only made her laugh even harder.

The creature than finished forming itself, and Ender was amazed at her creation. It had a head attached to a long neck, a massive body, with two large wings , four clawed legs, and one long tail. Its head had two horns, glowering ember eyes, a mouth full of teeth and a wicked snarl as it approached the man. Opening its maw to engulf him, making the man squeal with terror as it approached him, swallowing him whole.

"...as Ender Dragon."

She willed the creature to step back and it obeyed, bowing its head as she walked by it, gazing at the man lying on the ground, his hands over his face, sobbing lightly. She could hardly contain herself from laughing. This was so enjoyable, making others scared for their life and scared of her. No, scared wasn't strong enough of a word. _Terrified_ , was more appropriate.

"How...?" He whimpered, not even daring to look at Ender. His act of courage was gone, crushed to dust. So was his bravery.

"A magician never reveals her tricks." She said, almost too gently. He held his hands tighter to his face, scared and scarred for life. "But, you will answer this one question for me, will you?" He slowly nodded, almost weeping. Her expression turned deadly and serious as she suddenly grabbed the man by his collar and hoisted him up so that their eyes locked. He tried to look away, but her eyes, both beautiful and terrifying, kept drawing his head back.

"Who sent you?" Her good-girl act was gone. She was down to business now. Enough with the games, she wanted answers. All he did was sob, reaching behind his back and pulling out a piece of paper. He handed it to her and she dropped him as soon as she got a hold of it. Seeing his chance, he ran away, gone faster than she could blink. She was stunned for a second, but then thought about it and smiled, then turning her attention to the paper in her hands. It only had one message, and she was awfully suspicious that it was directed to her.

 _Meet me at Bleakwood Underpass._

 _-E. D._

 **That was nice. I had fun writing this part. Don't worry if your confused about her little tricks with the fire, it will be explained in later chapters. Hehe. Did you guys like it? I hope so, cause I did. Hehe. Don't forget to leave a review to support! Toodles!**

 **-NilakantaDragonQueen619**


	3. Friend or Foe?

Chapter 3

 **Hey everyone, I will be posting for the 'Fall of Minecraftia' soon, so don't worry. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should. I find it good for my first fanfiction. Anyhoot, I will leave you to read this, as it was longer than I expected, but still interesting. :) Enjoy, and don't forget to review cause it makes me happy!**

"What..?" She breathed, reading over the small missive again and again. "Is that? Are those...my initials? What the hell? Who in their netherized brain would _DARE?_ " The mage crumpled the paper in frustration and stated walking down the path again, the magnificent flame creature started following her and, seeing her hand twitch, hurried to her side and brought his head down to her waist. She brought up her hand up and pet the fiery creature. She smiled at him before she went around his giant wings, the creature watching her move, and climbed gently onto his back. She gestured with her hand and the fiery creature spread his massive wings. The wings, being made of fire, passed through the already burnt trees and slowly, they started to rise into the night sky. As he heaved himself off the ground, he let out a ground-breaking cry, scaring away some of the animals that had stuck around for too long, leaving only the were-wolves who were brave enough (more like stupid enough), to stick around.

Ender, despite being furious about the thought of someone using her name, smiled as the wind brushed against her face and hair, even smiling in joy. Her magnificent creation glowed a bright orange-red, lighting up the sky like a wild fire. She thought of going to her tower and studying the book she had recently bought, as well as terrifying the villagers with more of her little pets, both thoughts making her excited, but she also thought of going to Bleakwood Underpass to meet (more like terrify) the person that was using her initials, which might also be fun.

Finally, just as the creature landed on the roof of her tower with a _swoosh_ , she had made her decision. Bleakwood Underpass it was, but she needed a few things before she left. She concentrated on her required location and felt the tingle in her stomach as she entered the alternate realm, and another tingle as she exited the realm shortly after, having teleported to her room in a haze of purple particles. She gathered the essentials: food, weapons and extra clothing. Ender actually had a hard time deciding which outfit to take; it was either the black and red, or the black and purple. With some trouble, she picked out the black and purple outfit, storing it into her inventory. Hey, work got messy with mages, so she needed the extra clothing.

After having gathered the essentials, she prepared herself to teleport back to the roof, but a clap of thunder made her jump. She looked outside and groaned. The rain, her most hated element, had decided to ruin her day again with a heavy downfall. Up on the roof, she could hear her flame creation dying out, screeching with every drop of rain that hit it. Being exposed to so much rain would actually extinguish it and soon enough she heard the little hiss that told her it was gone. She face-palmed, cursing at her own stupidity for not paying any attention to the weather before collapsing lazily onto her bed, covering her face with an arm as she exhaled loudly, thinking of something to do to pass the time. Her mind often wandered unwillingly to the letter.

She instantly recognized the font and took note of it. The font on it was often seen in Spell Tomes, neat and clean, without any mistakes. It was written with a dark red substance, that only now she noticed, smelled sweat. It smelled like some sort of wild fruit, maybe raspberries, and brought some pleasant memories to mind. She quickly discarded them and noted the paper that which it was written on.

The paper was smooth, with hardly any wrinkles, and seemed like it was ripped from the bottom of a page, as only two out of four sides were ripped and uneven. The paper appeared to have been blank in origin, and also thick. Meant to be written on both sides with an ink pen. She concluded that the paper, after careful study, was part of a parchment that had been torn from the page of a Spell Tome.

"What a pity. I could have used it." Scowling and disgusted with the waste of good parchment, she crumbled the sheet in her hand before exhaling in exasperation and turning her head to look out the window. The rain was still pouring, but she could make out the vague luminosity of the moon through the dense grey clouds. Looking at the moon, admiring its beauty. While thinking of beauty, her mind wandered to her book, whose beauty resembled that of the night; dark, yet strikingly beautiful.

With a start, she immediately got up and spread her fingers, her face lighting up with a smile of mild excitement. In a few moments, the book she had 'purchased' from the library materialized in her hands. She clasped the book with both hands and almost tumbled over, as it was heavier than she remembered, and went over to her small work table, where she set it down and ran a ran across its surface before carefully peeling the cover open. She was so excited that she simply skimmed the table of contents, looking quickly yet never skipping a line. All in order to find a specific name, one rumored to have returned to the world of magic, Ars Magika. She had heard whispers and many, many tales. With her curiosity growing, she finally found her desired information.

 _A Carnivores Secret: The Puzzle...Pg. 75_

She felt the excitement rise, even if she knew she had to be careful, and with a steady hand, gently flipped through the pages. Once she landed on page 75, she started reading, slowly and carefully, not wanting to mispronounce or misunderstand the information.

 _A Carnivores Secret: The Puzzle_

 _Part one: What are they?_

 _The Puzzles are a very confusing artifact to understand, maybe the hardest as to no one knows where they come from or where they originated. They were rumored to have been found by an Arch-Mage that was known as Notch. This man, to whom some say was given wisdom and immortality from their true creators long before the Stone Age, was said to have gained power from the stone. He was so transfixed by its beauty and power, that he wrote a journal, describing with precise information on the Puzzles, having studied them for several years and coming up with many theories to their existence and purpose. Over the years his journals have been lost, but thankfully an archeologist had gotten a lead on the trilogy that might be located it to one of several locations, which is the town of Dragon's Peak._

The book went on explaining some of the other possible locations and even explained the possibility of that the Arch-Mages twin brother to have stolen them as well as the Puzzle, which was known as the Mage Wars, which every mage knew as the Twins Fall. It had been a historic turning point during the Mage Era. Slowly, Ender was growing tired and her vision grew blurry as she read, not only because of sitting too long at her desk reading, but also because she had spent so much energy into scaring the man earlier in the woods. She yawned and stretched, but still kept reading. She wanted to know so much for so long. And now was her chance! Without warning, her head dipped forward slowly until it gently touched the soft, worn pages of the book. She didn't even bother getting up.

* * *

 _She saw blackness. Complete, utter blackness. It felt empty and cold, not to mention alone and almost sickening. There was no one around other than herself, from what she could tell, but something was whispering into her ear. The whispering was at first small and very low, but the more it whispered, the more she understood, and the more urgent it sounded._

 _..._ _ **Don't...lea-**_ _Ender heard a small voice, soft and sad. She tried to call out, but it didn't seem to hear her. It just kept murmuring to itself, again and again about things she didn't understand._

 ** _...Please...don't...!_** _The voice was getting louder with each whisper, making Ender twitch in the infinite darkness. The voice seemed to ear actions louder than words. It's voice got louder, and it was now directed to her, as before, it sounded as if it was talking to someone else, pleading for mercy._

 ** _...Help. Please!_** _She somehow found the strength to disperse the darkness as she struggled to open her eyes. The surroundings, once she got a good look at them, weren't as dark as before. The stone underneath her feet was unlike any she's ever seen before. It was a pale beige, with a surface that looked like that of cobblestone. She turned around and looked everywhere, but was drawn to look behind her as a voice echoed across the empty landscape._

 ** _...Don't leave...Don't leave me alone!_** _Ender tried to cry out again, but found no voice to carry her will. She tried again and again, but to no avail. What was going on? Was she going insane? Was this some trick of the mind she was pulling on herself? Unlikely._

 ** _...Somebody, please help me!_** _She kept trying to scream out a response, wanting to know so many things. She tried to call again and heard a small croak that was supposed to be her voice. Frustrated, she kept trying. The voice was drawing her forward, her feet moving on their own. She was just about to give up her search, as it must've been an hour at least, walking aimlessly for a whisper that only got louder as time passed. Just as she was on the brink of giving up, the voice had quieted down enough to make it sound like it was on the edge of tears._

 ** _...I can't bear this darkness._** _She stopped. Her aimless walking was over. Her useless voice was freed from whatever had snuffed it out. She was staring down at a broken castle, made of obsidian glass and purple bricks, it was completely demolished. A lone figure, casting a large shadow, sat atop the only undamaged tower, looking up at the black sky and laughing lightly._

 _"Hello?" Ender called lightly, not wanting to scare the figure, which looked a little like her. However, when the figures head spun towards her, she saw malice in those eyes and for the first time in a long time, she felt fear. Those eyes, almost exactly like her own, were full of malice and madness of which she's never seen before. The purple eyes that were looking at her were ringed with a dark violet, which almost seemed to glow in the darkness of their surroundings. The irises were thin slits, making all the more terrifying and Ender unwillingly took a step back. A smile cracked on the others face._

 _ **What is it? Are you scared?**_ _The question took her off guard, as the girls mouth never moved, but she could clearly hear a voice echoing around her. The voice was no longer whispering, but it was definitely the same one. It sounded insane, and it was taunting her. Ender regained her composure before speaking._

 _"No. Not really, knowing the atrocities that I myself have committed." She replied, not letting an inch of fear creep into her voice. She didn't want to give the satisfaction. Apparently, it didn't matter, as the girl only laughed softly, twirling a black and purple blade in her hands, which was still glowing with purple particles. When did she...? The laughter grew a little louder, and so did the glow around her eyes._

 _ **I am the bane...**_ _Ender couldn't help but shudder. It was her line to use, she made it up. It was her catch line, the punch of the story. It wasn't for this girl to use. Her black hair was rustled by invisible winds, floating gently in the air. She stepped off the building and landed on the ground with nothing but a small cloud of dust in her wake. She started walking towards Ender, who was trying to summon her own sword, but was unable to. The girl laughed, raising her sword the closer she got to Ender._

 _"_ _ **Of all existence...**_ _" The sword came down, and Ender could do nothing to stop it but put her hands up to cover her face._

* * *

She woke with a start, instinctively raising her hands up to her head as she raised her head from the book, still seeing the sword coming down to meet her face. She took a moment, and not feeling the blade cut through her arms, she looked through a gap in her hands and was greeted with the bright morning sun. She looked around, and seeing that she was safe at home, she put her hands down and huffed, slowly raising a hand to place it against her forehead.

"Damn it. What the hell?" She took a moment to get control of herself, then turned to look at the book again. She snapped her fingers and it vanished in a puff of purple particles. Ender shook her head to clear out the strange dream and then snapped her fingers again, the strange feeling of teleporting ran through her body and she soon found herself in front of her house, a little shaken but okay.

"Okay, Bleakwood Underpass it is." She hummed. She turned away from her tower, having placed so many protective wards and spells all over it, and headed west, where Bleakwood Underpass was said to be. Not once did she look back, and not once did she stop. She knew where she was going, so she was confident to at least see or spot it before nightfall.

"Alright." She scowled. "Time to find the imposter." She smiled at the thought of terrifying her imposter, and even started dreaming up of things she could do to this person once she caught him. She even started laughing, clearly enjoying herself too much on her journey to Bleakwood Underpass. As she went about, she felt a certain emotion bubbling inside her. Was it rage? Heated anger? A wish of death to the imposter? All of the above. She wanted him to know she was the real deal. She wanted him to feel her wrath. She wanted him to die horribly by her hands, and none others.

She wanted the imposter to feel true terror.

* * *

A few hours later...

Just as she had predicted, she could see Bleakwood Underpass quite clearly against the twilight sky. It was a beautiful archway naturally made from stone and dirt. The name Bleakwood Underpass came up when some low hunter long ago that noticed, back then, that the Bleakwood Forest occupied the shadowed area cast by the archway. Now it occupied all around it, with a few occasional villages here and there, but nowhere near the archway. There was, however, a small road that ran under Bleakwood Underpass to connect many of the villages and it was on this very road that she now walked on.

Ender was about half-way under the archway when the darkness was complete, when the sun was low enough for darkness to take over. Raising a hand, she summoned a flame to light her way, taking cautious steps and listening for anything in the dead silence of the night. Suddenly, she stopped and looked to her left.

"Took you long enough."

Raising her hand above her head, she let the little flame drift above her, lighting her way and illuminating part of the stranger. She was dressed in a black and red outfit with leather armor here and there; from what Ender could see, it was mostly on the shoulders, the shins, and the back of her hands. Her arms were crossed against her chest and her hood was pulled low over her face, making it hard to see a face.

The girl moved forward into the firelight, pulling her hood back and giving a wide, warm smile to Ender, as if she knew her. She extended a hand once she was close enough in an attempt to touch her, but Ender backed away quickly, summoning her sword and brandishing it against the girl.

"Speak your reasons, imposter. Why try to use my name? Or is it just coincidence that we share initials?"

"What?" The girls response was unexpected. It ran thick with confusion, surprise and shock. Ender slowly lowered her sword, but kept it in her hand, brows creased in suspicion.

"You heard me." She snarled, bringing the flame down close to her face. The girls started pacing, but as she paced, her hood flapped lazily and eventually she pulled it off in annoyance. The girl standing before her was actually a woman, an experienced wizard. Her calloused hands were proof, and the standard mage clothing also confirmed her suspicion.

"How can we have the same initials? What's your name?" The women gaped. Ender was momentarily stunned. This women before her, a seemingly experienced mage, didn't know who she was. That made two people in one week. She was already breaking into a smile with all the things she could do to her to make her terrified and know her, but her confused expression made Ender hesitate; only a little. She raised her sword again, glaring at the women, but somehow still smiling.

"How can you not know me? I am known and feared throughout this entire land." The women stopped pacing immediately, as if realizing something. She turned to Ender slowly.

"Are you perhaps Ender Dragon?" She asked slowly, as if being cautious. Ender nodded, impatient already for her to get to the point, yet somehow glad that the women knew her.

"I..." She paused, swallowing before continuing. "Oh... Mom told me so much about you!" This made Ender's eye brow rise and her blade twitch.

"Just who are you?" The women turned to face her, her clear blue eyes closed as her face lit up with the world's largest smile. She then pointed to herself before approaching Ender again. At first she was confused, but then was grabbed by the throat and hoisted up into the air with surprising force. The girl merely stared at her as Ender glared.

"My name...my name is Ember Dragon. I'm your sister."

Despite the shock, Ender managed to raise her blade and make the other drop her to the ground as she swung it in a wide ark around her, almost cutting the girl. Her sister... She didn't know what to make of it. The shuffle of feet drew her attention and she snarled.

"Alright, nice joke. What do you want?" She kept her gaze on the other, in case she suddenly decided to approach her again.

"Simple." She said, drawing in a quick breath before turning to face Ender in the eyes, which in truth, almost scared her. Her tone of voice turned deadly, and serious as she hissed out the rest of her sentence, drawing a blade with one hand and summoning magik in the other.

"I'm here to kill you."

 **Wow. I loved that, honestly. I love writing these kinds of things. Anyways, what did you think? I love to read your opinions, it motivates me and gives me ideas for future chapters. SO, stay tuned for more! Toodles!**

 **-NilakantaDragonQueen619**


	4. Death

Chapter 4

 **Hey, what is up everybody, sorry I haven't posted in a while. That's because I'm on vacation and far away from home. I am proud to have gotten this chapter done and am currently working on the Fall of Minecraftia, so do not worry my fellow readers! It will be up soon!**

"Kill me? Are you serious?" Ender couldn't believe her ears. She had been lured to this location, spoken to someone, discovered that this person was her _sister_ and also discovered that her sister was somehow bent on killing her. Honestly, Ender didn't know just how her sister was going to manage that, and this thought made her laugh out loud. She was cracking up so much that she was unable to hold her sword, and almost fell to her knees, dropping her sword in the process with the unbalance, which made Ember look at her with a disgusted look on her face.

"Yes, precisely. I'm going to complete my mission no matter what it takes. I don't care if you're my sister." Ember snarled, poison dripping in her voice as she hefted her sword and crouched into a battle stance. Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as she glared menacingly at Ender, who had stopped her fit of laughter after hearing the outburst, but still maintained a slow chuckle as she retrieved her blade. "For the Dragon Lord!" With what seemed like a battle cry, she charged and immediately disappeared in a puff of red and blue particles to reappear right in front of Ender, her sword raised and ready to slice her apart; a nasty snarl spread on her now twisted face.

The sword came down, and Ender leaned backward to lift her sword and block the opposing blade. The weight surprised her and she dropped to her knees, grunting under the unexpected pressure and strength. She took the risk and lit her hand with magik, sparking a flame to life in less than a few moments and raised her bright hand up to Ember's face, making Ember cringe and she backed away in a hurry, the sudden light blinding her to the point that she gave a sharp cry of mild pain. The weight was taken off Ender, letting her free to move and regain her composure. As soon as she was freed of the weight, which surprised her still, Ender gathered and concentrated a ring of bright red-orange flame in her hand and slammed her fist on the ground, creating a small crater.

" _!erif fo gniR_ " When her hand hit the ground, a giant circle of flame expanded and circled around her, pushing her sister back to avoid the hungry flames. However, Ember spread her hand again and yelled in return, glaring evilly at Ender, yet laughing like a child in pure joy.

"Haha! You're a Fire Mage? Nice! Now we're talking!" She howled in delight. " _!pihw retaW_ " A large jet of water formed between her fingers and she swung her hand around her, twirling the long strand of water back and forth continuously, slowly extinguishing the fire. Ender had to jump back and even teleport to get out of the way as her sister extinguished the large ring of fire. She growled darkly, not happy that her adversary was a Water Mage. Just her damn luck.

" _!tej retaW_ " Ember yelled, forming another large string of water right after the previous disappeared and threw it directly at Ender with practiced ease, who had no time to back up or get out of the way and barely dodged the string of water. It ripped through her clothes and scratched her side, leaving a wound that stung like lava, which she found strange.

"ARRGHH! God DAMN it!" Ender howled, glaring at Ember as she added. "You are a challenge, but I will make you _terrified_ of me, just like that man not too long ago. You will _FEAR_ me!" The water jet had barely grazed her side, yet it was enough to rip open her clothes and leave a small gash filled with hot lava-like pain. She would have to be more careful. Her sister laughed at Ender's distress, knowing what she must be feeling.

"Hehe. Not likely." Chuckling, she moved forward, letting her blade hang from her hand, almost touching the ground, and slowly wrapped the blade with water. "I'm not as easily scared as our brother. The Dragon Lord saw you as a threat and decided to take precautions, which is why I sent him to lure you here. With you out of the way, it would clear most of the land you rudely took from us and you won't be the one reigning terror onto the villagers and others that may dwell in the surrounding areas. "

"Is _that_ all you want?" Ender sighed, lifting her sword once again and cracked a small smile, trying to hide her pain. "Jeez, then it must run in the family." Ender willed herself to disappear in a haze of purple particles, reappearing behind her sister and raising her sword over Ember's head. Her sister simply whispered, a large smile plastered on her face.

She suddenly turned, her hand curled into a fist and enveloped in water. "Too slow." A sword was raised, a hand was stopped, but water flew everywhere. Ender backed away as soon as her blade connected with her sisters hand, hissing as burning water flew everywhere, hitting her arms, chest and face. Ender was angry, but she wasn't about to give up because of a few burns. "You can't win against me. Not here, not now, not EVER." Ignoring her sisters words, she rushed forward, summoning concentrated flames and threw them all around, lighting the area ablaze in just a few moments. Ender hefted her sword once again, holding it close to her until she approached her sister, who raised her sword in defense.

Right before getting in contact with Ember's sword, Ender used the spreading fire closest to her and pulled it towards her, using it as added power for her sword. It wrapped around her blade quicker than she could blink and once it connected with Embers blade, a huge spray of fire exploded around her sister, completely engulfing her. Her blade made a _thump_ on the ground shortly after.

"Gotcha now." She huffed. The fire was quite a show to watch, as it had concentrated itself then expanded with incredible and impossible speed, exploding outwards, away from Ender and towards Ember. Her victory was short-lived , however, as the fire before her suddenly separated and brought forth a blade. Ender's reflexes were quicker than her mind and she raised her sword, blocking the flying projectile and sending it somewhere behind her.

She stared at the burning patch in front of her and snapped her fingers to extinguish most of the flames, but she didn't know what to expect. Maybe a body, or perhaps a corpse? Killing a sibling...that was something she didn't want to think about. Not now. Not while she was fighting her sister. However, as the flames dispersed and soon vanished, she saw nothing but burnt, somehow wet, grass. She didn't see a body, nor a corpse, and that made her wonder.

The area soon started filling with smoke, or rather, she only noticed the area was being filled with smoke as the dead brush under Bleakwood Underpass was incredibly dry and numerous. The water from Embers water magik has made all the undergrowth damp, hence the smoke. The fire quickly spread and smoke rose from everywhere, quickly obscuring and slowly poisoning the air around her. Ender, while being immune to her own flames, was not immune to the smoke and it was now time for her to leave this area.

She moved around, waving her hand around to try and disperse the smoke in front of her, but to no avail. As she walked around, trying to find the closest exit from under the stone arch, she knew she was slowly suffocating on the smoke made from her very own flames. It was quite pathetic, really, now that she thought about it. She had created so many flames, but couldn't completely extinguish them all and they kept creating more and more flames. She'd have to remember to congratulate herself later. Her only problem, _which way was out?_ There was too much smoke to tell up from down and there was too much fire to tell night from day.

She was getting tired of wandering around and scowled, but soon had to stop as an itching feeling spread through her chest and she began to cough uncontrollably. She tried to think of a place nearby that was free of fire and smoke, but she lacked the skill to speak the spell. She thought of her dying, here of all places, and it enraged her. She tried to get up again, but her arms gave out and she fell face first into a stone road.

 **I can help you, but my help will come with a price.**

' _What the hell? Who is this?_ ' She covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her robe as she tried to fight the dizziness that was starting to take hold, making her vision sway and her legs start to buckle from under her.

 **Do not worry, I am here for you.**

' _Who the HELL is this?!_ ' Ender mentally shouted. This voice was oddly familiar, but she didn't recognize it off the bat and give it a name or a face.

 **I will aid you. Give me a chance.**

Ender tried to speak, but the coughing was becoming intolerable and her voice get getting snatched from her by the smoke, making her fall to her knees and clutch her chest. She tried to teleport, soon feeling the strange sensation as she passed through the alternate realms and saw the haze of purple particles, but the feeling suddenly died down and the haze of particles disappeared.

For no reason, the image of the girl with an impossibly large shadow sitting alone on a damaged castle flashed in her mind's eye. She tried to criticize herself for thinking of a dream at a time like this, but even her consciousness was getting sucked up by the smoke and she fell to the floor. The coughing was starting to ease and her vision was going blurry, multiple shades of red, orange and yellow flying by her eyes.

She tried to rise to her feet, but she was unable to push herself up as the energy in her arms was snuffed away by the smoke and fell back down to the ground. She tried again and just as her arms gave out, she felt something grab the back of her robes and just as her consciousness was wavering, felt the unmistakeable tingle of passing through the alternate realm as bright blue and red particles flew around her. She felt the same tingle as they exited the realm and was practically hit in the face with fresh air, which made her cough until her lungs were clear from the smoke. Something moved behind her, and she weakly turned her head to look at the enraged expression of Ember, who had a few burn marks but otherwise looked unscathed.

"Hey, don't go killing yourself just yet." She said, reaching down towards Ender. "I want to be the one to kill you with my own hands, so don't do anything stupid yet." With quick thinking and even faster reaction, Ender sharply hissed in the magik language and cold blue ice wrapped around Embers foot. She scowled and watched as Ender slowly got up and looked around cautiously while backing away from Ember.

"I don't think so." Ender rasped. She summoned her sword and it appeared in her hand, ready to use. She was a little tired of fire magik after what happened, and lit her hand with a cold blue color. Ember looked at her, a surprised look on her face as she broke out of the ice wrapped around her foot with minor struggles.

"What manor of trickery is this?" She whispered. "I thought you were a Fire Mage, how can you use your opposing element?"

"A magician never reveals her tricks." Ender said. She pulled all her remaining magik energy and concentrated it into her hand before putting her hand against the blade of her sword. The blue light almost slithered onto the sword and she then slammed it blade first into the ground. The ice on her blade expanded across the ground before rising up at least 5 blocks into the air. " _!llaw ecI_ " Being a block thick, it would take quite a bit to break... As if on cue, large cracks appeared in the center of the wall and continued to expand. Knowing what was going to happen, Ender hastily moved to get out of the way as a sword punctured the ice wall, completely obliterating her shield.

She hit the ground and scowled, moving to cover her side with a hand but pulled it away sharply as pain erupted. She looked down and found a large gash that oozed blood, covering the stone below her with surprising speed. She felt a foot on her back and gasped in pain.

"Stay down." Ember hissed. "You're going to kill yourself before I have a chance to."

"Yeah, well dying isn't on my agenda for today." Ender said, turning her head to glare at her sister. She kicked as hard as she could into the others shins and laughed as the other fell away screeching in pain, even falling to the ground with her unbalance.

Ender used the opportunity to get up off the ground and back up once again, but soon found she could back up no more as she was standing next to a 30 block drop. She was so entranced by the drop that she didn't hear Ember coming until she felt a sharp pain as the pommel of the sword hit her square in the chest. The force was enough to rob her of her breath and even send her over the edge.

Gravity took place and she started falling, the wind rushing by her face and stealing her breath, making it very hard for her to breathe. As she fell, she saw that Ember looked down at her with a strange glint in her eye. The corners of her vision grew dark, blurred and small the further she fell. Ember did nothing but watch. She thought of a few ways she would die, a few of such being splattered on the ground or impaled by Embers sword. However, she didn't expect the horrid pain that exploded all across her back before sinking at a rather slow rate even further down. She tried to draw breath just as her sight grew completely black, but instead drew water.

* * *

He slew the night creatures as if squishing a bug as he ran to the giant natural archway. During the night he had woken up to see flames come and go from under the archway until finally he decided to check it out. Only now could he pick up the traces of magik energy being emitted by at least two beings. He had alerted his group and together they set out to find what was causing such a commotion.

"Why did you wake us in the middle of the bloody night again?" A feminine voice, belonging to a girl with short dark blue hair, hissed in annoyance. He didn't even glance back.

"Because I know one of the people fighting!" He yelled back. He had told them before he left. Why can't they listen? The wind picked up a bit, making it a little harder to track the exact position of his target, but he wouldn't let this chance slip away.

"Is it the Red Clan again?" A deeper voice asked. "Why are you tracking a Red for? Bane and Alex are already more than enough trouble and we're two guys looking after them half the time."

"Excuse me?" Two feminine voices called in protest. He scowled. Why did he have to be stuck with such weirdoes? It was true, Bane and Alex were more than enough trouble, but they could take care of themselves. Drake, in the other hand, was more on the funny side rather than business, which made him more of a pain than anything else.

"I have a hunch, alright?" He protested. "Please, guys. You have to trust me on this one. Besides, I can already see the edge of the tree-line." He finished, speeding on ahead of everybody as he heard a large splash and burst out of the thick forest. The sight surprised him.

He first noticed that the underside of the great arch was covered in flames and smoke, with the top being somewhat protected. A single figure, although barely noticeable, was atop of the stone arch with a sharp sword gleaming in hand. He could never forget that face, even from a distance, her magik energy was unmistakeable.

The soft sound of laughter from the figure made his blood boil, but before he could do anything, she vanished in a haze of blue and red particles. Damn it. He had missed his chance.

"Steve! Get over here!" He swiveled his head as soon as he heard his name being called and rushed over to met the group by the very large and deep lake.

"What is it?" He asked. The blue haired girl pointed to the lake. Under the moonlight, it was hard to tell what was underneath the surface, but if he had to guess, he would say a human. Any animal was unlikely, as they all had the instinct to swim; same for any other creature, which includes the odd villagers. As he watched, bubbles slowly rose to the surface, they grew smaller, then suddenly vanished.

His instinct took over and he took a great big gulp of air before jumping into the water. He swam down a few blocks before he spotted the hazy outline of a black and white outfit. Swimming down some more, making sure he remembered he couldn't breathe underwater, he quickly grabbed a hold of the persons shirt and started swimming upwards, noticing that this person had long hair and he naturally assumed that it was a girl.

He took a great gulp of air once his head broke the surface of the water and he pulled the persons head up above the water, but she didn't do anything. Her head lolled on his shoulder and her body almost dragged him down to the depths if it weren't for his friends reaching out and grasping a hold of him. They dragged him ashore and he set the girl down. One of the two girls that were following him came over and checked her pulse.

"Looks like she swallowed too much water, she's not breathing." She said quietly. She then moved on to pushing down on the girls chest a few times and he never felt so helpless as to now. He couldn't do anything but watch. Suddenly, the girl started coughing and rolled herself onto her stomach, forcing her savior to step back a little to give her room. He then stepped forward, trying to make sure he didn't scare her. However, she glared at him and managed to stand up.

"Hi..." As soon as he uttered those words, she snapped her head towards him and her eyes made him hesitate before saying anything else. Those purple eyes almost seemed like they were glowing, possibly a reflection of the fire, but he was entranced. It was a strange feeling, he wanted to look away, but he couldn't for some odd reason. He was only able to pull away because her eyes closed and she groaned, clutching the side of her stomach. The black haired girl tried to approach her when she suddenly went limp, lying on the ground he only now noticed was slowly being covered in blood.

"Good job, Steve. You killed yet another woman." The man with the deep voice teased, making Steve tense with anger, even though he knew it was a joke.

"She's not dead, Drake. Look with your eyes for once, she's still breathing." A red-headed girl punched the man, making him whine and scowl at her.

"Yeah, but we don't know for how long." Steve said. He could hear her shallow breathing getting shallower and her heart beat weakening. She wouldn't die on the spot, but if she didn't get any treatment, she would surely die in a few hours. Making a decision, he gestured to the group.

"What is it now?" The blue haired girl sighed. "I'm gonna go on a hunch and say you don't want to leave her here. Correct?" Steve nodded, seeming mildly surprised. "Alright then. Drake, you're gonna carry her all the way to the base."

"Why?"

"That way if the girl dies on us, you'll be to blame and I can use that stupid comment you used on Steve right back at ya."

"Alright, then it's settled." Steve sighed, walking over to the girl and carefully lifted her up for Drake. After placing her gently and securely onto his back, they started moving and headed into the forest once again. However, he couldn't help but look back at the top of the arch, where he thought he saw those crystal blue eyes staring at him with the moon just over the great stone archway.

 **Hello, hello. This chapter is by far my longest, but I felt that you guys deserved that. After all, I haven't uploaded in a while. Tell me what you think, I'm dying to know. I love your reviews, so keep them coming. Toodles!**

 **-NilakantaDragonQueen619**


	5. The missing piece

Chapter 5

 **Hello, my dear readers. As you may or may not have known, I have now returned home from vacation and will continue for ever and ever to write these fantastic stories for your pleasure. Oh, yeah and let me know about your thoughts and how you think the story will unfold. I love reading what you think! Read, review and enjoy!**

"Remind me again why you brought her here." The redheaded girl spat, looking at the mage in disgust as she shifted in her chair. He still didn't understand why Alex hated mages, even if she herself used magik on rare occasions, but maybe it was something personal. She then turned her eyes to Steve, expecting an answer. So did everybody else.

He shrugged. "She was fighting a Red. Actually, she was fighting the Red _General_ , who goes by the nickname Exterminator, which is a pretty big deal. She's lucky to have been dropped in water and not on land, otherwise..."

"Otherwise, she would've died." The redhead spat again, cutting him off and finishing his sentence for him. She was frowning and narrowing her eyes at Steve. "Which would've been better for everyone."

"Alex you can't say that!" Steve argued. "She was fighting _Ember Dragon_ , the biggest, most dangerous hit-man that serves right under the Dragon Lord. Whatever she was doing, there must've been a reason. Also, it looks like Ember wanted her alive! Otherwise she wouldn't have let her live for as long as she did." He pointed to the mage, who's chest was slowly rising and falling. Her face looked so peaceful it was hard to actually tell she was actually a Dark Mage.

While Steve was trying to convince Alex to try and at least put up with her until they know what she was doing, also to stop her from killing the already wounded mage, the other two that had accompanied them were sitting beside each other and were looking at the bickering pair. For them, it was hilarious, as it occurred daily and usually, they would end up getting too mad at each other to continue and would just avoid conversation with each other for the rest of the day. They found it humorous that they haven't killed each other yet, and quite literally.

"Guys?" The blue haired girl said, trying to interrupt their conversation, which was obviously starting to annoy her and was getting loud. "Guys." She repeated, a little louder than before. Steve was the only to respond, but she didn't like his answer, as he had told her to wait and stay out of the conversation. Alex only stared. Angry, she pushed herself in between the two miners and shoved them apart with brute force. "My patient is resting, so shut your Notch blessed mouths or take it somewhere else. Is that clear?"

She eyed them for a minute, looking with narrowed eyes at both of them until they backed down. Steve just kept his head low and Alex snorted, turning away and walking out the door, slamming it behind her. Everyone looked at each other, then to the mage.

"What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?" The big man whispered, turning back to look at Steve and his blue haired friend. Steve didn't even raise his head, nor did he look away from the mage. He just stared at her, as if something was on his mind.

"I'm not sure, Drake, but I think we might be in over our heads." Steve said, his voice low and almost a whisper.

* * *

 _The first thing she felt was the feel of the wind rushing past her, whipping her hair and clothes everywhere. She felt weightless as she struggled to move and opened her eyes to a dark and blank black sky. There was nothing. No moon, no stars, not even any clouds. Her eyes opened wide and she tried to flip herself around, only to have her fall brutally stop. She tried to move her head to see how far she was from the ground, but she still couldn't move._

 _ **Ender Dragon...**_ _That voice. Looking around, she saw the dark castle surrounded by the even darker pillars of obsidian, forming some sort of circle around the castle and lit by strange orbs of magik Ender had never seen before. She then saw the figure atop the castle, sitting on one of the towers, remembering the impossibly large shadow that obviously came from what appeared to be her insane twin._

 _ **You are amusing...**_ _The figure smiled, standing up and moving on the edge of the roof and letting herself fall, landing lightly on the floor and barely raising a cloud of dust. Almost casually, she headed towards Ender, a gleaming sword being twirled in her hand in a very relaxed, yet smooth and experienced manner. The shadow behind her moved as well, as if trying to reproduce the same position and movement, the only difference was that there as a tail lashing around and wings spread high above its head._

 _She tried to move, to grip her sword in defense as the shadow recoiled at her movement and then approached, as if curious. The girl raised her hand and Ender felt all the pain from the battle come crashing back to her. She felt stabbing pain in her side just as she was about to thrust her hand out and summon her sword, but she also felt warm liquid trickle slowly down her thigh, coating her side with dark red blood. Her breath was coming short as she remembered Embers sword coming down on her like a lightning strike, the pain manifesting itself and her breath was lost for a momentary moment. She even felt pain on her entire backside, which could almost be compared to being burnt in the Nether._

 _She raised her hand to her chest and tumbled to the ground. Her breath wasn't coming back, and she wasn't sure how long she could hold out without any air. Her diabolic twin seemed to be extremely amused. It was up to the point where her vision started to fade and her muscles were collapsing on her did her look-a-like close her hand and put it down alongside her._

 _Ender gulped in breath and coughed. Even the pain started to fade away and eventually, she was able to stand again. Ender tried to summon her sword, but something blocked her magik and prevented her from doing so. She tried again and the being sighed, putting her head in her hand, as if face-palming. She then raised her hand, revealing Enders sword and threw it at her. Catching it swiftly with practiced ease, Ender watched her look-a-like with suspicion._

 _ **I will lend you my aid just this once, as you have yet to prove to me your usefulness.**_ _She then waved her hand and the pain returned, first on her sides, then the loss of breath in her chest, all across her back and finally, the sinking feeling as the darkness stole away at the corners of her vision. Before her vision was consumed by darkness, she saw the girl being enveloped in a very large shadow, her purple eyes glowing very brightly and with a look that bore pure amusement and joy._

 _Who was this person?_

 _ **Remember my name, human.**_ _A voice cut through the darkness, just loud enough for her to hear, yet dark enough to obscure the image._ _ **For I am known as the Dark One.**_

 _ **Kayelinth the Eternal One.**_

* * *

She felt her senses coming back to her and she felt the warm and comfortable feel of a wool bed. She sank down deeper, wanting warmth, but pain exploded all over her back and she straightened out as fast as she could to avoid crying out in pain. She heard the shuffle of feet somewhere to her left and a somewhat cool breeze to her right, suggesting she was inside a house and near a window. Being a wizard had its advantages and she could smell many things. From the smell of coal and hand cooked food, this person was a miner and judging from the delay of the noise she made, the area she was in was of medium size.

She opened her eyes and attempted to sit up in bed, but someone with very strong yet delicate hands held her down. Her eyes, for a very short moment, fell upon short dark blue hair and the almost golden amber eyes of a relatively young girl. She closed her eyes and grimaced as she felt her sore back ache in pain.

"Sorry." A voice said apologetically. "I didn't mean to hurt you more than you already are." Hands went all over her wounds and she felt something soft being wrapped tightly around her. Bandages. Who was she getting help from? She looked at the person dealing first aid. Her short dark blue hair and curious golden amber eyes drew Ender in, wanting to know more about this person. She appeared to be very young, maybe her early twenties, maybe her late teens, it was hard to tell.

"Who are you?" She asked. It seemed out of the blue, a random question, but the girl seemed to expect it, as she continued on her work without hesitation.

"My name is Bane. I'm the one who saved you from drowning, although Steve had a big role to play in that, but in general, let's just say that I saved you and bandaged you up after we found you." After she was done bandaging, Ender saw her hands lit up with a soft blue glow and she neared it to her wound. Ender watched this curiously, wondering what she could be doing. Just as purplish-black sparks started flying, Ender tried to warn the girl to stop but the sparks flew with an even greater intensity and stung Ender. It also appeared to have stung the girl for both cried out and the girl hurriedly drew her hand away. Extinguishing the magik from her hand, she came closer to inspect the damage, but Ender knew what had happened.

"Stay away." She growled. Her eyes glared at Bane and the girl was hesitant to decided whether or not to head Enders warning. However, the glint of hated in her eyes seemed to have convinced the younger girl and she stayed back.

"Why?" She questioned. "You are my patient and I intend on making sure you survive and recover to your full potential before letting you go."

"It doesn't matter." Ender slowly sat up in her bed and took a good look around, making sure to maintain her look of hatred, disgust and lack of trust. The younger didn't seem to understand. "You are a user of Light magik, whereas I am a user of Dark magik. I don't need your help and it's as simple as that."

"You really shouldn't be moving..." She didn't finish her sentence as Ender had lifted herself out of bed and made her way around the room, clutching her side and being careful not to move her back to much.

"I don't trust you and you shouldn't trust me." She said, blunt and straightforward. A soft purple glow came from between her fingers and soon she moved her hand away from her side, as it no longer seemed to bother her. She then faced the girl, eying her with her captivating purple glare. "Do you know who I am? Do you know of the fear that has attached itself to my name?"

"Your appearance doesn't tell me anything and I've never been in a village too long to hear the villagers say things like that. So, no." She concluded, looking straight into Enders captivating glare. "I don't know or recognize you."

"That's too bad. You'll just be another person for me to have fun with and terrify but in the meantime, seeing as you helped me, I will leave you alone and merely leave this house." She waved her hand and the fire from the furnace died down as it moved through the air and flowed around her hand, forming creatures before disappearing into flame and forming another creature before yet again being a simple flame. Before Bane had a chance to say anything about what she meant, her glare changed as she turned around and the flame erupted from her hand. " _!nogarD eriF_ " She whispered and the flame was growing larger and larger until it almost filled the entire room.

Ender could tell that Bane was horrified, yet amazed at its beauty. She could see that as the fire condensed enough for the shape to be noticeable. Its maw opened, its wings flared and its tail lashed out behind it as it gave a great cry, one that sounded like the roaring of a great uncontrollable fire. Ember eyes looked at the blue haired girl and Ender put her hand on the creature's head. It stopped roaring, but kept its flaming eyes on Bane, who looked scared with amazement. Ender cracked a grin.

"You are right to be scared. People fear what they don't understand, and you don't understand me or my magik." The purple eyes staring at Bane seemed to burn brighter than even the great fire creature she had summoned, which made the younger noticeably uncomfortable. However, as she opened her mouth to say something, the great fire creatures head snapped to the door. Everyone in the room went silent and the only thing heard was the crackling of the great fiery beast. It growled as Ender moved forward, snarled as she took the handle. It moved forward and sniffed the door, ceasing the growling for just a moment.

The great beast growled and stepped back, folding his big wings to his side and laying low on his haunches. He was ready to pounce. Bane tried to move forward, but Ender silenced her. She then cautioned her to listen and when she did, Ender could tell that she was hearing the sounds of battle. Iron against iron, shouts and impacts. A fight was going on.

Bane then moved forward, despite the warning Ender was giving her, and pushed the door open. Ender saw three more people that dressed similar to Bane, in casual clothing, fighting against a few people wearing similar clothes, used similar magik and even had the same insignia, where the head of a horned beast spat fire. They were from the Red Clan. Ender pulled Bane back just in the nick of time, as a man had crept up beside her and had tried to swing his sword at her exposed neck. Her fiery creature leapt at him and snapped continuously, forcing the man to back away in order to avoid getting burned.

"Careful, they have this place surrounded by at least three or four men, not including the few that are inside fighting your friends. If you truly don't know me, let me demonstrate myself with these men." Bane opened her mouth to argue, but Ender charged out, joining her fiery creature and snarling just as evilly as it did. She jumped, hacked, slashed and even shouted at the men before blasting them with magik.

Soon, the men started to back away from Bane's friends and condensed their attack onto Ender. Just as she hacked down a few men with her red sword, the others waiting outside could be heard screaming a name that rang out into the darkness.

"It's Ender Dragon! Retreat! Pull out!" It was only when they called the retreat did Ender start to laugh in glory. When they were all gone, she felt all eyes on her and willed her dragon outside to the front lawn. It passed right through the walls, not leaving anything but hot air in its path, and patiently waited for his mistress. She felt Banes friends eye her curiously and made nothing of it. She wanted to return to her tower and walked out the front door to meet up with her dragon. Just as she was prepared to fly, she heard a voice.

"Wait!"

She looked behind her and saw a man with a cyan shirt and dark blue jeans running up to her with a sword in hand. She willed her dragon to turn around and he stopped in his tracks. His friends followed suit shortly after.

"Where are you going to go?" He asked. Her dragon snarled, dripping strands of fire onto the ground as he let his tongue hang out of his mouth. The man moved back a little and Ender willed the dragon to move forward in intimidation, his wings quivering with the longing to fly and his teeth and claws thirsting for fresh blood. He snapped at the man.

The big man behind him stepped forward and raised his fist. She could see what was going to happen and willed the dragon to muster a breath of fire and lift his head high out of the way, momentarily standing on his haunches. The big man tumbled and spun around for another hit. With a boost of energy, she urged her dragon to jump into the air and smash his tail into the ground beside the man, unleashing is fiery breath upon the rest of the group. He stopped any further attacks as the dragon landed and flapped his wings to intimidate, dark red flames dripping to the ground and burning the grass. The rest of the group, who were saved by a barrier, were hesitant after witnessing what happened.

"I'm heading home, so don't try stopping me. I held back in me attack, but he won't." She patted the dragons head and he snarled lowly, flames still dripping from his semi-open maw. "But what would you want for me? You would not have saved me otherwise."

They stared at each other, then all the pairs of eyes turned to the man in the cyan shirt. He rubbed his head as he then came forward at his own risk, as the dragon was still snarling, and put his sword down. The dragon eased on his snarling, turning it into a curious whine.

"I actually wanted to ask you about something." He started quietly. Her dragon stopped whining curiously and lowered his head down to the man's level, looking at him with ember eyes. "I wanted to ask you about a stone I found a while ago, and a few wizards I consulted told me the same thing, that it was worthless, but I know they are wrong." He fished something out of his inventory and held it out for her to see. It made her heart stop as soon as she looked at it.

Her expression must've told him she knew what it was, cause his face broke into a nervous smile and he pulled the stone back. The dragons head snapped up and he growled a very deep, unnatural growl. Ender tried to will him to be calm again, but he shook himself with enough force to throw her off and she landed on her back with a pained ' _Oof!_ '. The blue haired girl then came running to her, ignoring the dragon.

His fire was dying down around shiny black scales and grey horns. He was still drooling flames and his eyes still remained like burning embers, but their glow was dimmed to a dark purple. He advanced towards the man. She then knew what he wanted.

"Get rid of it! _Give me the Puzzle piece!_ "

 **So? What do you think? Will Steve give her the piece? What about the dragon? Hmmmm. All these questions are in line to be answered. Honestly, I like the ending. What do you think will happen? I'm dying to know. Maybe your thoughts could influence what happens in the story, just maybe, or you might be close to discovering Enders true intent... I've said too much. Anyhoot, I certainly hoped everyone enjoyed.**

 **-NilakantaDragonQueen619**


	6. A suggestion and a secret

Chapter 6

 **I'm excited. I'm sorry if I haven't been able to update/post anymore chapters lately, but I'm now dealing with three stories at once, school, home, friends, upcoming Halloween... It's so busy now I find it hard to find time to write my chapters. Anyhoot, I hope people will enjoy this chapter and review what they think. I love reviews, especially from people who review on ever chapter. I love it. It lets me know what you think. Read on, review if you wish and most certainly enjoy.**

...

"Get rid of it! _Give me the Puzzle piece!_ "

...

She reached out her hand and tried to move forward, but the dragon ignored her and tried to flick her aside with his tail. However, his aim was poor, but upon closer inspection seemed to be calculated and precise. It landed near her, and forced her to keep her distance. Angry, she lit her hands with magik, one a bright red colour and the other a pale blue, and hurled as much raw power as she could at the dragon, but he ignored her still and advanced on the man with the cyan shirt.

Finally, with a cry that sounded somewhere in between angry and annoyed, she risked combining both elements and shaped it into another dragon. This one was similar to the one in front of her, but it was under her strict control. The moon glittered off its blue crystal-like skin and it raised its head to utter a sound that sounded somewhere between roar and howl. Its maw was lined with curved crystal clear teeth each bigger than her little finger as well as fangs that were a little longer. Its dark blue eyes gazed at everything, assessing the situation and narrowed them when its gaze fell upon the black scaled dragon inching its way towards the group, who soon found themselves cornered by their house.

Its transparent ice blue wings, located where its front legs were supposed to be, flapped around in the air in an impatient manner, clearly wanting to tear its way into the other dragon. Lashing his tail around, the whip-thin end cutting through the ground with ease, but also brute strength. Its spine was lined with what looked like ice shards and the curved claws on its strong hind legs tore holes into the soft dirt. It howled again and this time Ender didn't prevent it from attacking, but she rather encouraged it.

A warm glow came from its chest area as its transparent blue body seemed to reflect a nearby fire. The warm glow rose into its neck and came spewing out its mouth, its maw and teeth reflecting the burning red glow. The fire swept over the other dragon and for a moment, nothing happened. Ender thought she had heard it roaring in pain, but the roar soon turned to a genuine laughter, one she recognized.

The black scaled dragon stopped advancing on the group, but kept a very watchful eye on them as he tilted his head to look at her. His tail flicked and his wings twitched. From the ice blue dragon came an agonized cry as a dark, menacing purple colour enveloped it. As she watched , it broke apart and the elements she had used to created it separated themselves. The fire, once raging, flickered down to a small pathetic flame and then sparked out. The ice, once beautiful in a lethal way, melted down and evaporated. She swore under her breath.

Now that she thought about it, she recognized the magik as well. She tried again, lighting her hand with fire and summoning her red-ruby sword in the other. Being careful of the tail still in her way, she pulled at the energy necessary and mixed the fire and the ice, which created a thick fog that rolled over everyone. After a few seconds of spilling the fog on everybody, she extinguished the magik in her hand and redirected it towards her feet, giving her a jump boost and she found herself high up above everyone. Just as she was about to fall back down onto where the dragon would be, the fog parted and the dragon was gone.

She looked around, seeing the group staring at her with surprise, even perhaps shock and terror, but being from high up and not seeing their faces clearly, she didn't put much thought into it. Not until something sharp grazed her shoulder and she turned around enough just to see the black scales of the dragon. The flames from it mouth dripped onto the floor down below and she noticed that the edges of the flames were slowly turning a dark shade of purple.

Just as she turned to face the dragon, he-no, Ender was certain it wasn't a 'he' anymore. The dragon smiled and reached out with her sharp talons, grasping Ender by the throat. Her air supply cut off and in panicked defense, Ender swung her blade as hard as she could, but her red blade bounced harmlessly off the scales and fell to the ground as the shock forced her to drop it. She struggled to breathe, and in desperation, summoning a blade made of pure, solid ice, she grabbed the hilt so that the blade was backwards and forced it down as hard as she could into the muscular arm that forced the air to leave her lungs.

The blade punctured the scales, to her surprise, and a cry of agony escaped from the toothed maw of the dragon. The talons, surprisingly, didn't loosen and drop her, but they rather held on tighter and the dragon brought her closer.

 _ **You disappoint me.**_ The dragon snarled as she brought her even closer just to throw her down with all her might towards the group, who had yet to move. Now, as they saw her coming, they parted ways and fanned out in all directions. Ender tried to cushion her fall by manipulating the air, however she had never tried or practiced such magik, and was surprised to find out that she landed painfully on her rear end, but not as painfully as she was expecting from the height she was at.

Having now been released from a death hold, she coughed violently a few times as she drew in the much needed air before looking at the scene before her. Still wheezing, she saw that the dragon had landed and was circled by the group, who were attacking from all directions. She even saw the man wearing the cyan shirt bravely facing the dragon face to face with his simple iron sword. He slashed and ducked, again and again. His body would make him more nimble than the dragons big hulking body and also faster. His friends were just as agile and they never fell out of sync.

 _ **Give it to me!**_ The dragon roared. She opened her maw and a bright purplish-red fireball formed. Without further waiting, she hurled it at the first person she saw, which was the man in the cyan shirt. Just as the fireball was about to connect, Ender sensed a spark of magik inside the man with the cyan shirt. As he lifted his sword, she caught his reflection for a split second and what she saw shocked her. Were his eyes always that way? Or was she mistaken?

Just as she was pondering on what she saw and going over it in her head, the man's next action tore her attention away. The fireball was hurled right back and hit the dragon square in the chest, causing the beast to roar and the dragons voice rose to a shrill cry of desperation. She lunged forward, her claws outstretched and her maw opened, ready to tear into the cyan shirt. Her chest area smoking, but otherwise didn't seem to bother the enraged beast.

 _ **You cursed human!**_ _**Give back what does not belong to you! Give back what you stole!**_ The man moved out of the way, but one second he was there, and the next he was gone, only to reappear somewhere off to the side of the beast. The dragon seemed just as perplexed as Ender was, but she didn't let it show and snarled, crouching low on her haunches.

"You mean this?" He raised the Puzzle piece for her to see and her snarling turned darker by the second. "It was never really yours to begin with, you know. I only found it." He said mater-of-factly. His voice seemed darker now, deeper, or was that still her? The magik she had sensed earlier had grown and he seemed to be a different person entirely, but how could that be?

 _ **Vile human. I will find a way to get it back, but not before I get rid of you...somehow.**_ The voice mused. The dragon seemed to savour the thought and turned her head towards Ender, who was slowly getting up off the floor. The dragon stepped over everyone, ignoring their protests and was soon looking down at Ender, those dark violet eyes drawing her in, yet the dragon seemed just as transfixed by Enders own eyes.

 _ **And you.**_ She snarled, but her snarl gradually turned into a low growling. _**If you truly want power, follow your sister.**_

"What? Why?" Surprised, Ender summoned her sword and held it level by her side, ready to strike, but not sure if she would be fast enough to block or dodge the creature. The dragon slowly blinked her dark violet eyes, but before she could respond she snapped her head to the side, staring at the man wearing the cyan shirt. Her glare softened only a little when the man gave a nervous laugh and stepped a few paces back. She paid him no further attention.

But Ender was perplexed. What had happened? His magik was gone and his eyes, if they were truly what she had seen, were back to normal. They were now just a dull, soft purplish blue colour. What was with this man? Her attention was drawn back when the dragon spoke once again, pulling her attention from the man and his strange ability.

 _ **Are you not aware of the five clans that have a hold of precious and powerful artifacts?**_ Ender nodded slowly, as she had heard of them and even seen and encountered a few of its members, but that was it. She was already forming conclusions in her mind as to where the dragon might be going with this topic. _**Well, these five groups each have a leader who has acquired the power of artifacts similar to the one you wish to repair. They call themselves the Dragon Lords, and you can probably guess why. If you can kill the Red Dragon Lord, or even force his - extra power - to leave him; it will be a deed that will scar the other clans and scare them.**_

"So," She concluded. "I have to do is follow my sister, which you said could lead me right to the Dragon Lord, and kill him. Might as well kill Ember when she is no longer of use to me." The dragons eyes gleamed with joy as her body slowly started to crumble and break down until everything vanished in a thin wisp of black smoke. However, it seemed like nothing could make the voice break down and fade away.

 _ **I like your way of thinking. You might be worthy, but until the Dragon Lord is dead I only seek to free myself with the sole purpose of bringing fear and terror to this pathetic world. I have only been able to appear here now because of the piece and your magik. I am fatigued now, but in the meantime, I will settle with witnessing you fail by the hands of your own sister. Remember who I am, and you just might find that there is always something more powerful than you. Something more deserving of being feared than you are.**_

Furious, Ender was about to shout at the voice, but knowing what the dragon could do, settled down to fume silently while looking around at the damage. Everyone had started coming back together and the man with the cyan shirt looked down upon the stone, as if wondering if everything was somehow his fault. Maybe it was. He finally looked up when his friends came over and he put the stone fragment away in his inventory.

Who was this man? Now as he was, she sensed no magik in him at all. Not even a spark, or even some potential in having any magik. _He is interesting, but he's hiding something. That's for sure. There's no way he could have learned how to hide his magik better than me by living in the woods with his barbarian friends...unless I'm wrong?_ She thought.

Just as she was pondering on the many thoughts that disturbed her, the group were inching their way towards her. Once she noticed them, she whipped her sword to their eye level, stopping them in their tracks and using her captivating glare to force them to look at her, yet the man in the cyan shirt just raised his hands, smiling nervously like it was a joke. Before he could even mutter a word, Ender was already tearing into him.

"What was that?" She demanded, coming forward to stare and inspect him, forcing his friends to back off and move out of her way.

"I don't know-"

"Don't give me that netherized crap!" She yelled, shoving her sword at him and jabbing his arm. She needed to know. It was bothering her and he was avoiding the subject. "You know what I'm talking about. What happened when you were fighting that dragon?"

"You mean your abomination?" The big man in the back asked, an eyebrow raised.

" _Quiet!_ " Ender hissed, turning her glowering eyes towards him. He shrunk back uncomfortably and cowered behind the blue-haired girl. The red-head face-palmed herself. "That dragon was no longer under my control. Whatever was in the Puzzle used my magik to take shape. I don't even know how it's possible, but that's besides my point. I sensed magik in you when you were fighting the dragon and now I don't. What happened to you during that fight?" Ender knew she had hit somewhere close to home with her remark as the cyan shirted man looked away from her and his friends.

"Nothing. It's none of your business." He whispered. Picking his head up and walking past her towards his house. She noticed that her friends were staring at both of them, listening to them talk and not saying a word to anything being said. What strange people. She grid her teeth, taking a quick deep breath before continuing, hoping that if she spewed enough information that he would start to collapse and break down, eventually telling her everything she needed to know.

"Then why did your appearance slightly change? Why did you suddenly gain magik energy in the middle of a fight when previously you had none? Why were your eyes glowing white?"

He stopped walking, his hand stopped turning the handle to the door mid-way and he turned his head enough for Ender to see his one light purple blue eye as she did the same, lowering her sword. He huffed and resumed turning the handle, shutting the door quietly behind him. His friends looked at the door, then at Ender, before following their friend inside.

Ender dropped her anger and turned her frown upside down as soon as they were gone inside. She was going to have to try harder than that if she wanted him to break down and leak his secrets. Maybe she just had to try harder. Suddenly, a thought struck her. One that made her smile widen. _What if I removed his friends?_ Would that be enough to do the trick? Well, she'd just have to stick around and find out.

 **Well? I've got to say, Ender is the meanest, most cruel character I've ever made. I wonder what you make of the man in the cyan shirt. What's his secret? I love suspense. Hope you enjoyed and I will see you soon, maybe later, but hopefully sooner. Toodles!**

 **-NilakantaDragonQueen619**


	7. With Friends like these

Chapter 7

 **Hey, everyone! How are we? I'm fine, thanks for asking. Just don't hate me with this next chapter, 'cause I loaded it with dialog and suspense. Don't worry, there's also plenty of action and I honestly don't know I put everything in together like I did. Anyways, enjoy, have fun, don't kill me, review and LOVE! Also, read, of course.**

Well, sticking around might not have been the greatest idea and she found out the hard way. When she tried to follow the rest of them inside, hoping to be able to rest before making her way home, the man's three other friends looked at her strangely. The red-head waited by the door and didn't move until they were alone outside. As soon as the door closed, the red-head was on her. She advanced on Ender, eyes glowering and mouth drawn in a tight line. Ender could tell she was fuming and she could guess why.

"Are you stupid? Do you have a death wish?" She hollered. Ender was taken aback. A death wish? Ender was officially surprised, but she didn't let it show. She didn't really expect this, but she backed away from the red-head until she bumped her back into a tree trunk.

"A death wish? Me? Please." Ender scoffed, crossing her arms and installing herself comfortably against the tree. The red-head looked at her expectantly, but also furiously. "From what I recall, YOU helped ME when I was down, something no one before you has succeeded in doing. I even WARNED you to leave me alone. _But you refused._ " As she spoke, Ender removed herself from her comfortable spot on the tree trunk and moved towards her, slowly at first, then faster and faster, until _she_ almost ended backed up against the walls of her own house, but she stood her ground and pushed Ender away when she got too close.

"I didn't want to save you! You were fighting with one of the Reds, weren't you? You were fighting with Ember, weren't you? You were meddling with affairs you had no business in!" The red-head yelled, pushing Ender back again.

Ender let the red-head push her away, but as the words and the gesture sank in, Ender's mood turned sour and the other seemed to barely notice it. Ender willed her magic to vibrate against her body in a dark and hostile manner, pooling off her like an endless waterfall of lava.

"So, tell me then." Ender scowled, narrowing her eyes and glowering at the woman in front of her. "What are your affairs with _my sister_?" She could tell that this point hit home, as the red-head was apparently at a loss for words. She stuttered with her next words, but tried to quickly hide it with some pitiful excuse.

"O-okay, I didn't know that the Red was your sister, but you don't know Steve's connections to her."

"So? In the small period of time that I've known him, I can tell he's hiding something, or is it just me? He has no magical power or potential, yet he managed to acquire magic, which somehow slightly transformed his body and caused his eyes to glow white. How can you explain that? It doesn't take a wizard to feel a sudden burst of power like the one he gave off before making it vanish completely."

"Stop it." The red-head growled, pulling a sword from her inventory and leveling it at Ender.

"Stop what? Telling you the truth?" Ender smirked, the aura around her darkening considerably. "I'm only being honest. If you never wanted to save me, you should've given your friends a reason to listen. Who knows, it would've made your life easier."

"Stop it." The red-head growled. This time she started advancing, slowly coming closer with her iron sword leveled at her side, keeping a tight grip on it.

Ender laughed heartedly, genuinely, but it turned dark and hostile in no time, making the others steps come faster until they were thundering. "Or what, little red-head? Are you going to kill me? I'd be surprised. I don't sense any magic in you and I highly doubt you can pull off what your friend did."

"Stop it!" She yelled, bringing her sword up to strike Ender. Deciding to risk it, Ender uncrossed her arms, leaving her chest wide open and exposed.

"Don't make any bold moves." Ender cautioned. She saw the red-heads sword falter, but it didn't stop and the look in the others eyes was not surprising. She was enraged and now the lid holding all her anger had snapped off. The sword kept coming before Ender yelled out, trying to get the other to reconsider. "Do you want to make an enemy of me?"

The blade still didn't stop and it split through her clothing and skin, starting from just under her shoulder and running down along her chest and stomach, spilling blood on the floor and drenching her chest. It hurt incredibly. She wasn't used to willingly taking pain to make a point, but this nether-brained red-head had backed herself into a corner and her point might've not been clear even after she willingly took a hit.

Ender coughed and tried to cry out from the pain enveloping her chest, but her voice caught in her throat and she forced herself to swallow the pain before she wrapped her hand in healing magic and brought her shaking limb close to her chest. She felt the magic working and when she looked up to see the girls face, she smiled when she saw the wide eyes and gaping mouth. The girl was shocked by her own action.

"My, my. Have you never fatally wounded anyone before?" Ender managed to say, her words becoming clearer with each passing moment. The red-head almost dropped her bloodied sword as Ender moved to stand, as she had somehow fallen. "Oh, don't let go of your weapon. You'll need it pretty soon and don't worry about me. You on the other hand..." Ender chuckled and raised her other hand with difficulty, which grew covered in blood and pale light as she grinned and summoned her magic, picturing a devilish scene she could create to try a wedge between this girl and her friends.

Yet, before she could do anything, the girl stepped forward and leveled her sword just under Ender's chin, pushing the end to her skin to force her back.

"You will leave us. I don't want to deal with this again and I don't want to see you ever again." Her eyes told Ender this girl was serious, but she couldn't help but smile. She had succeeded in instilling fear into this individual, going as far as letting the woman harm her, but it was progress. Now, all she had to do was drive the fear to her heart, creating terror. But that was fun for another day.

Now she had to get more spell books. She was getting ideas and she wanted to know if some were possible with the use of magic. She grabbed the blade and moved it away from her throat slowly, summoning her own sword and leveling it at the girl's own throat in return. Payback, in a way.

"Alright, I won't bother with his silly secret or the truth, but I will be back for the Piece your friend is stubborn enough to keep from me. That is a guaranty you can count on. Unless you can somehow convince him...?" Ender tilted her sword before lowering it down and making it disappear in a haze of deep red particles. She chuckled as she saw the gears turning in the others head, considering.

Forcing one last chuckle, she smiled at the other before she snapped her fingers, picturing the lake her sister had rudely thrown her in and looked up to see the arch. Bleakwood Underpass, once a beautiful safe haven for numerous types of plants and strange creations, was now destroyed. Everything was charred a deep black and in the air lingered the slight smell of smoke and fire.

"What a pity." She sighed. "It was beautiful while it lasted."

She then took her time going home, stopping quite frequently in some villages along the way to gather supplies she knew she might need. She gathered roses in one, dandelions in another, gun powder in another, and even a new spell book in yet another. Ender was secretly glad she had stopped off at that last village for her spell book. Yet it wasn't until later, when she had finally reached her destination sometime before sunrise. Was it really sunrise in just a few hours? She hadn't noticed. Man, time passed fast when she was in a good mood.

Deciding quickly, she stopped off at another village and went about trying to find the magik shop. It had to be around somewhere, and the village didn't seem to be entirely huge, even with the mass of people giving her strange looks and glares. Some whispered, but she didn't pay attention. All she wanted to do was find the magik shop, if there was one at all.

She turned down a street, looking through the windows with quick glances and still felt so many eyes on her. Not that it mattered, if they didn't fear her, they would soon if they so much as intend to stop her. Besides, she just wanted to look around for artifacts she could use and wield. And so far, she didn't try to blow anything up upon her arrival.

"Where is that darn magik shop? There has to be one around here somewhere." She whispered furiously, her good mood starting to drop with every street that came empty of any clues to the whereabouts of a magik store. "Would I have to blow something up? Nah, that would make people flee and I wouldn't get the answers I need. I don't even think there _is_ a store selling magik, not in this dead end town." As she kept walking, now trying to find a way out of a seemingly endless maze of houses, she fumed to herself, wondering why and how she had even been in a good mood.

' _For the love of the Great Hero, why did I even come here? It's a waste of time. A_ _ **pointless**_ _waste of time. I could've done more in my tower if I had just gone there instead of this run down village._ ' When she looked around, she actually noticed that all the buildings were covered with cracks and vines, slowly withering away. Several of the support beams under many of the houses were all worn away and broken down to bits, leaving a whole wide enough for someone to crawl through. All the wood on the roofs were old, cracked, mossy and just looked terrible. How in the Nether did she miss this when she first came to this village? Was she really that distracted? Ender didn't really know how she'd miss the condition of the village when she was looking at the houses for different signs of magik, some signs that would tell her a building was associated with magik, but so far, she's found nothing.

"Damn it all to the Netherlands!" She fumed, hitting the side of the nearest building in frustration with a solid fist, the moldy, cracked cobblestone giving way and she suddenly stopped in her tracks. This house... It vibrated, pulsed even, letting off a small amount of magik energy. It pulsed a dark colour a few more times before it faded and the magik she had sensed disappeared.

"That's weird. Now what was that? Did I miss something in my haste and good mood?" She then shrugged it off and started walking again, trying to shrug off the new mystery. Whatever, it wasn't something she had to be concerned about. After all, she had her own place and she didn't care about these low-lifes that shunned magik, even when they begged on their knees for it to save them every so often. They were so pitiful.

She walked around for a little while and before long she spotted one of the exits. At this sight, she couldn't help but be glad to finally get out of the town. She didn't really have the strong desire to stay any longer than she had.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" A voice said behind her. She heard footsteps approaching and whirled around, expecting some sort of trick and a fight to occur. Yet nothing but a young looking man, maybe just around her age, wearing an unzipped worn down torn orange winter jacket (for some reason), a grey t-shirt underneath the jacket, and had black jeans. Yet she hardly paid attention to the clothing. What captivated her were his eyes. They were the clearest green she's ever seen. He noticed her staring and asked. "Are you alright? You don't look so good."

Hastily, or as hastily as she could, she turned away and began making her way back home. She could already see the tower looming in the distance and the dying howls of the were-wolves as they started to revert back to human form.

"I'm fine." She stated, walking away from the strange man in the run down orange jacket and especially from the run down town. He started to follow her and kept insisting.

"A-are you sure? You're covered in blood." When she gave him the death stare, he paled considerably and slowly backed away.

"Back off." She snarled, clenching her teeth in annoyance towards the hindrance. "I don't want you to follow me. You don't belong in the forest where I live. If I were you, I'd leave before you'd have a chance to move."

The man paled even more, but managed a small smile. "Making threats are we? That's neat. I guess you don't need help then. Sorry for disturbing you." Yet when Ender started walking again and he followed somewhat hesitantly behind her, she wiped her blade out without warning and teleported away, giving him a little of a scare before she teleported behind him and drove the blade home.

"I told you, but you didn't listen. I'm in a foul mood, and you just made it worse." Needless to say he was surprised but he didn't make a move or attempt to free himself from the blade, but instead of crying out in pain like Ender would've expected, he laughed out loud. The mage growled in frustration, snapping her fingers to physically teleport herself into the forest closest to her home. It took a little more energy than she would've thought and she stumbled when she emerged from the temporary portal.

But her tower was in sight and the thought of resting in her bed spurred her into a sprint, almost as if she was running from a pack of Blazes in the Netherlands. She bounded across the landscape, jumping over obstacles in her way and sliding under fallen logs, testing her agility in her own environment and speed in performing the different maneuvers.

Soon enough, she came up to the front door and carefully unwounded the numerous seals she had placed on her home for security reasons. As she unwound the spells, she thought back about the man and his strange attitude. Who was he? He seemed like a nice person, but Ender hated being nice. It wasn't something she was _good_ at performing or accepting. But for a moment, when she wiped out her blade to kill him, he seemed terrified. But why?

* * *

"You WHAT?!" He yelled. Alex had come back inside a little while after having a heated talk with Ender and the others were already on her case about it. What was wrong with what she did?

"You heard me, Steve. I don't think I need to repeat myself." Alex stated, leaning comfortably on the wall furthest from everybody. She didn't want to risk taking any hits from anyone, especially Steve and he way he was taking the information she had told him. But seriously, what was his problem?

"No, you don't. You're right." He said quickly, pacing the length of the room while holding his head. "But why did you do it? Why did...? Why did you almost kill her over a silly argument?" As Steve pondered out loud, Alex was losing her nerve. She was afraid that the maniac of a mage was still close, but she was pretty sure she was long gone. Yet, she still had a feeling and it was terrible. Steve whirled on her again.

"Tell me, Alex! What happened in the argument for you to act that way?" He came right up to her and put his hands on either side of her head, preventing her from moving or looking at him. His eyes showed a furious fire about to explode and for the first time, she was not only scared but also concerned for him, as she recognized the glint in those eyes.

He slammed his hand on the wall in impatience. "Tell me!"

Finally, Alex exploded right in his face. "Because she's onto you Steve! That's why! She's getting ideas and she's already making plans. She's _evil_ Steve."

"You don't know that."

"I do! She told me! Right when I went to strike her down, she asked me if I wanted to make an enemy of her! She came up with a bunch of theories that walk along the path where she finds out who and what you really are!"

"Really?" Everyone asked.

"YES! She even said this and I remember it word for word. 'If you never wanted to save me, you should've given your friends a reason to listen. Who knows, it would've made your life easier.'" Alex yelled breathlessly. Steve was so stubborn sometimes.

"And?" He narrowed her eyes while she stared in disbelief.

"Are you seriously not concerned? Another thing that concerns me is that now we're dealing with an evil family. I should've known when I heard the men yelling her name. I thought they were saying 'Ember Dragon', but she looked off and we had just seen her." Alex said, desperate to prove her point, even when she knew it was already proven.

"And?" Steve said again, but this time he was more hesitant, like he wanted to know, but didn't really want to know at the same time.

"You still don't get it? Oh Great Notch, how can you be so innocent?" Alex breathed out heavily, taking a moment to recompose herself. Even the others had come closer. "Steve, we're not just trying to deal with Ember Dragon, but we're also going to deal with _Ender Dragon_." Her explanation seemed to strike home to the other two and a few moments, Steve finally caught on and his face paled.

No further explanation was needed, it seemed.

 **Alright, so how was it? I know the ending is loaded with suspense, but the next chapter will hopefully (maybe) clear a few things up. Don't worry, I still have SSSSSSOOOOOOOoo much more planed for this story. It'll be BEAUTIFUL! Better believe me, it truly will be. Anyways, hope you don't feel like murdering me in your sleep and I will le** **t you enjoy the rest of you day.**

 **Oh, and with a quick extra, if people want to see some art that I make on a regular basis (pretty much), my art is on DeviantArt and my account name is _NilakantaDQ619_. It's pretty ease to find and so far, most of my posts are Dragons. (No surprise, as I'm a dragon freak. ;). I love them.**

 **On that note, Toodles!**

 **-NilakantaDragonQueen619**


End file.
